Just days before the primary, Hawaiian election officials were thrown a curve ball when two key staffers in the office, the acting elections administrator and the person in charge of voter registration, reported that they would be out on sick leave until after the election.[1] Additionally, temporary staffer Kui Kama, who worked the 2008 and 2010 elections in the Hawaiian election office, resigned on August 8 and submitted a resignation letter that said, "I refuse to be a part of something that will fail, because I know it will."[1] According to Jeffrey Kuwada, the Maui County Clerk since 2009, "It is my personal opinion that the operation of a successful primary election in Hawaii County is doubtful, if more election personnel fail to report to work."[1]

Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi stated on August 9th, "We're fine, we're doing OK," despite closing the office for a day in July without warning to audit voter registration rolls[1] and reportedly not responding to state elections officials' requests for a detailed update for nearly an entire week.[1] Kawauchi was appointed to the Hawaii County clerk's job in 2010 and has not worked an election before.[1] Despite the concerns, Kawauchi said back-up staff have been shadowing staffers for several weeks and have assumed their responsibilities.[1]

In response to several polling stations delaying their opening time yesterday, GovernorNeil Abercrombie issued a proclamation to extend polling hours on Hawaii Island by 90 minutes on Saturday.[2] The delays ranged from only a few minutes in some places to more than a half hour in others, and almost an hour and a half in one location.[2] "The most important issue in this situation is to make sure that everyone who wants to vote can vote. By extending the poll hours, we are making that possible. I also want to thank all those who are working hard to assist at all polling stations across the state," said Abercrombie in a proclamation on August 11.[2] Because of the delay, election results were not released until the close of all polls.[2]

Contested Primaries in Hawaii -- August 11, 2012

U.S. House (2 seats)

State Legislature (76 seats)

Total Democratic Contested Primaries

2 (100%)

31 (40.79%)

Total Republican Contested Primaries

2 (100%)

7 (9.21%)

Congress

U.S. House

Hawaii had a total of 2 seats on the ballot in 2012. A total of 14 candidates filed to run, made up of 7 Democratic challengers, 6 Republican challengers, and 1 incumbent. A total of 355 U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 57.46% of possible primaries have been contested. Hawaii's contested figure of 100% (4 out of 4 possible party primaries) is more competitive than the national average.

Lingle responded to the surprise endorsement, criticizing Young as "controversial" and alluding to his past ethics issues.[8]Lingle's campaign manager Bob Lee said in a statement following Hirono's release of the new ad, "It should be troubling to the people of Hawaii that Mazie Hirono's first attempt to convey any example of bipartisanship is a video advertisement with one of the House of Representatives's most controversial members, who even Mazie's fellow Democrats have criticized on a range of ethics and spending issues."[8]

As of July 13, 2012 Lingle (R) reportedly raised $1.1 million in the second quarter[9] and Hirono (D) raised $941,000 and at the end of the cycle had $2 million cash-on-hand.[10]

State legislature

There are 76 total legislative seats with elections in 2012 -- 25 Senate seats and 51 House seats.

There were 31 (40.79%) contested Democratic primaries and 7 (9.21%) contested Republican primaries. Thus, there were 38 (25.0%) races with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 25.0% figure of total contested primaries in Hawaii is higher than the current national contested average of 19.38%.

Senate

Nine Senate incumbents - all Democrats - faced a primary challenge. Two of those nine were defeated:

District 11: Due to redistricting, the battle for the Democratic nod was incumbent vs. incumbent as current District 11 incumbent Carol Fukunaga lost to District 10 incumbent Brian Taniguchi. Both long time senators who previously served in the House, Fukunaga has held her seat for 19 years, while Taniguchi has had his for 17.[11]

District 25: Facing two challengers in the primary, freshman Sen. Pohai Ryan lost to Levani Lipton and Laura Thielen. Thielen, daughter of state Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R) was a director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources under former RepublicanGovernorLinda Lingle.[12] Thus, new to the Democratic party, she was unable to run for office as a Democrat, because she had not been a member of the party in good standing for at least six months. She filed anyway and is now facing internal punishment from the Democratic Party, but her candidacy was not challenged in court.[13]

House

Eighteen House incumbents - 16 Democrats and 2 Republicans - faced a primary challenge. Three of those 18 were defeated:

District 33: An incumbent vs. incumbent battle, District 33 incumbent Heather Giugni lost to District 34 incumbent K. Mark Takai. Giugni was appointed to her seat in February of this year to fill the vacancy left by Tom Okamura, who resigned due to health concerns. Takai, meanwhile, has served since 1995, including a stint as Vice-Speaker of the House.[11]

District 48: In another incumbent vs. incumbent battle, District 49 incumbent Pono Chong lost to District 47 incumbent Jessica Wooley. Chong, who first assumed office in 2005, currently serves as Majority Leader. Wooley has held her seat since 2009. She previously served as Hawaii Deputy Attorney General from 2000-2003.[17][11]